Jodi was born in New Jersey. Her grandfather was a bandleader in the 1940s in New York City, and her mother, who taught her to sing, was a performer with her grandfather's band. At seventeen she entered the Miss Philadelphia Pageant and was the runner-up, but realizing she enjoyed performing more than competition, she returned the following year as a featured performer.Jodi majored in theater with a concentration in classics at Penn State University. During her senior year she won a part in an off-Broadway show called My Name is Pablo Picasso, which ran for eight weeks. She played Sheila in the Surflight Theatre production of A Chorus Line in which she danced and sang "At the Ballet" and was part of the national tour of Lend Me A Tenor, in which she played Maggie. Subsequently she produced and starred in Tennessee Williams' one-act play, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton at the Intar Theatre on 42nd Street.She next appeared in Bodyshop at New York's Westbeth Theatre, receiving outstanding critical notice for her portrayal of an unwed mother who becomes an exotic dancer, and also performed the role of Lily St. Regis in the 20th anniversary production of Annie at the Goodspeed Opera House.Her Broadway debut was in Jekyll & Hyde in which she played a leading role. This was followed by the featured role of Pam ("the other woman") as part of the original cast of the Broadway musical Urban Cowboy directed by Lonny Price.She has also released a solo CD entitled Girl Talk which features contemporary renditions of standards associated with strong women. Show less «